A witness to Princess Diana’s death crash says her chances of survival were reduced by emergency service delays – and believes “other forces” were behind the accident.

Retired lawyer Stanlee Culbreath was one of the first witnesses to the tragic smash in Paris but kept quiet out of respect for the then-young princes William and Harry.

Culbreath, 69, said: “I always thought it was suspicious, that other forces played a hand. Now, 20 years on, I question more than ever whether it was a genuine accident. I think it is dubious.

“Why did it take 20 minutes or so to get to her? And when she was finally released, why did they pass one hospital and take her to another?”

Diana and Trevor Rees Jones leave the Ritz (Image: PA)

Culbreath told how, at the scene, and unaware Diana was a victim, he told a friend: “Damn, a junkie on Main Street would get waited on quicker than this.”

He added: “There are so many questions I ask myself about how the accident was handled and if she could have been saved. I pleaded for the police to help but they were very nonchalant about the entire thing.”

Culbreath, of Columbus, Ohio, had been in Paris with friends Clarence Williams and Michael Walker.

They went on a late-night tour of the Eiffel Tower. As they made their way back to their hotel in a taxi at about 12.20am, they entered the Pont de l’Alma tunnel and were confronted with the smouldering wreckage of the princess’s car.

Read More

He said: “Our taxi driver stopped a few feet from their limo. He explained France has a Good Samaritan law and it was our duty to stop and help. We got out only a few feet away from their Mercedes. The car was up on the wall and the front passenger door was already open.”

At that time, Culbreath did not know the car’s passengers were Princess Diana, 36, her lover Dodi Fayed, 42, driver Henri Paul, 41, and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, now 49, who was the sole survivor and only passenger to wear a seatbelt.

He said: “We hadn’t heard the bang as the crash happened just as we got into the tunnel. Their car was smoking and the muffler [from the exhaust] was on the floor.

Stanlee Culbreath (Image: James Breeden)

“I went over and Trevor Rees-Jones had his legs out of the car and was holding a towel or something to his nose as he was bleeding heavily.

“There were only four or five of us there, so I went over to the car and looked into it to see if we could help.”

Culbreath and his friends didn’t know that Diana was wounded in the rear and that Dodi was already dead.

He added: “I didn’t know who was in the back until later but at one point I was a few inches away from the princess trying to look through her window.

“I remember saying to the guys at the time, ‘Is there an ambulance coming or something?’ as there was no sign of one.

Read More

“There was only one cop there, who told us to get back. He kept saying, ‘Get away, get away’.

“As the windows in the rear were dark, I couldn’t see who was in the back. I was pleading with the officer to open the door – it looked like it could be pulled open.

“He wasn’t doing s**t. It was as if those there had decided nothing could be done.

“It’s just my opinion, but it took them a long time to get her out. It could have been up to 30 minutes before help came. We were there for at least 15 minutes. Why wasn’t an ambulance there quicker?

Tragic lovers Diana and Dodi Fayed (Image: PA)

“I never heard an ambulance the whole time I was there. I never heard a siren.

“My recollection was that there seemed to be an insurmountable amount of time for an emergency vehicle to respond. I said to the guys, ‘I’d hate to get into an accident in Paris as nobody shows up’.

“It could have been that her chances of survival were significantly decreased by the amount of time it took for the paramedics to arrive. It’s common sense that the longer someone is left, their chances of survival are less.

“It doesn’t matter who was in the back of the car. If it was a bum off the street, they should have got there quicker.

“When we left, there still wasn’t an ambulance. The speed at which they responded was inadequate. Questions need to be asked.”

During the 18-month French inquiry into her death, it was determined the crash was caused by driver Paul, who was drunk behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz S280, travelling at 65mph.